No one can seem to settle on the exact time because they were so excited to see her fly in – and the camera does not have a clock. It looks like it was around 12:32 for the oldest female Osprey in the UK to arrive home to her nest in Wales.
Mrs G is thought to have been since first during the middle of the summer in the Glaslyn Valley in 2003. She would have been two or three looking for a nest and a mate. She first bred in 2004. No one knows precisely how old she is but taking from all the clues, Glaslyn believes she hatched in 2000 or 2001. That would make her 21 or 22 years old this year. They know that she has laid 54 eggs from 2005 to 2021. It is not know how many eggs were laid in 2004. Out of those eggs with her two mates 11 (98) and Aran, 46 hatched and 41 fledged.
Mrs G is also a grandmother having 112 grand chicks that are known – there could be more. She now has 10 great-grand chicks and there will certainly be more this year!
It was a sad year for Mrs G and Aran last year. There were three chicks. They hatched during a period of wet and cold. Aran was injured at the time they were hatching and could not provide food and Mrs G could not leave the chicks to fish. The community of Glaslyn provided a successful fish table for the family which kept Aran and Mrs G alive. Sadly, by the time it was put up the chicks were already past the stage where the food would help them.
Everyone hopes that this will be a much better year for this Welsh Osprey icon and her mate, Aran.
As you can see from the image above, the community at Glaslyn has been working on the nest creating beautiful reinforced walls so all that Aran and Mrs G need to do is bring in the nesting material.
What a gorgeous place for an Osprey nest! Glaslyn means ‘Blue Lake’ in English.
The Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn is located in the northwest of Wales.
Mrs G sits in the nest and, like the rest of us, waits for her mate, Aran, to return from his migration. His injury last year seemed to have healed by the time he flew away in September.
Aran is an unringed male that showed up in Glaslyn in 2015. It is believed that he was 2 or 3 years old when he arrived, perhaps just turning 2. He has been with Mrs G since that time also breeding with another female Blue 5F (Seren in 2016. She is now at Llyn Clywedog with Dylan). Aran is well known for bringing in whoppers of fish to the nest that weigh as much as he does!
This is simply wonderful news. Everyone is cheering the return of this iconic Osprey, Mrs. G. If you like Ospreys, then turn your attention to the monitored nests in the UK.
Here is the link to this wonderful nest:
Thank you for this quick check on a Saturday morning on the chilly Canadian prairies. No doubt more Ospreys will be arriving in the UK today – let us hope some are at the monitored nests. There is a rumour that Seren has been seen at Llyn Clywedog but it appears their camera is not operational. Take care all.
Thank you to Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn for their streaming cam where I took my screen captures.